Tunable fiber laser based photoacoustic spectrometer for breath ammonia analysis during hemodialysis1

A photoacoustic (PA) spectrometer based on a near-IR tunable fiber laser is developed and used for breath ammonia analysis. We successfully measured the breath ammonia level variation of six patients with end-stage renal disease while they were undergoing hemodialysis in the hospital. The measurement results showed that the initial concentration level of the breath ammonia were from 1600 to 2200 ppb before dialysis treatment, the levels decreased to 200-600 ppb in the end stage of dialysis, which close to the levels of healthy persons. Further improvement and applications of this PA spectrometer are discussed.